The Way We Were
by iLoveTheMellarks
Summary: Modern day Finnick and Annie: Finnick and Annie have finally called it quits for good but they didn't know not being together would be this hard. Though neither will admit it, they both miss the way they were.


**Hey everyone! So I have some explaining to do. I stopped writing my fanfic 'The Story of Us' for no other reason then I didn't have any idea where it was going. I had no clue what to write and then I completely forgot about it and I feel terrible. I decided to make just a modern day Finnick and Annie but from the same story line as what it was in The Story of Us. PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me what you think and I'll continue if I get good feedback. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 1: Promise Me**

** 6 years earlier…**

"Finnick Odair report to the principle's office." The loud speaker interrupts my Math class. I sigh and stand up from my chair as my fellow sixth graders taunt me with "ooo"'s.

"Finnick. You're dismissed." Says my math teacher, Mr. Meyers.

"I warned you not to mess with Annie, Finn." A classmate of mine, Katniss, tells me. I roll my eyes and head down to the office.

Annie Cresta is secretly the love of my life. I'm only twelve years old so I haven't really told anyone. She shows no interest in me so the only way to get her attention is to tease her. This time, I kind of took it too far.

I walk into Principle Mar's office and my eyes instantly go to Annie. She's furious and soaking wet. Yet she still looks beautiful.

"So, do I have permission to punch him in the face?" She asks our principle. He shakes his head to my relief.

"Finnick, take a seat." He says with a harsh tone. I sit next to Annie and give her a small smile but she rolls her eyes. "Finnick-" Annie cuts him off.

"What in the world is wrong with you?!" She shouts. I hang my head.

"I'm sorry, it was just a prank! I didn't mean for you to actually get hurt!" I claim. My friends and I set up a bucket hanging over the girls locker room door so when Annie walked in (she was always the first) water would pour all over her. Unintentionally, the bucket fell and it hit her head.

Annie gives me a sarcastic smile. "Oh well that just makes it all better, doesn't it! Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?" These words hit me in the face harder then any bucket could. She thinks I _hate_ her? Pft, if she only knew.

"I don't hate you." I mumble not making eye contact with her.

"Look, Finnick. Your pranks on Miss. Cresta are getting out of hand. We let you off with a warning the first couple of times but now you have to receive some sort of punishment." Mr. Mar takes out a pad of detention slips and rips off 5. "Lunch detention for the next five days. If you tease Annie one more time, it's going to be suspension."

"Ugh." Annie grunts obviously not satisfied with my amount of punishment.

"I really am sorry, Annie." I say again before getting up to leave.

When I reach the hallway Annie follows behind me. "Why'd you do it? Please, just tell me what I ever did." I glance back at her before turning around to face her. _Tell her the truth. Tell her you love her and that's the only reason you tease her. _

I don't have the guts. "I um…I was being stupid, I don't know. It won't ever happen again though." I say before turning back around. My two buddies who helped me out with the bucket incident turn the corner I was about the go around. I almost bump into them.

"Oh, hey guys." I say to Peeta and Gale. They nod and look at Annie behind me.

"Hi Annie." They say in unison. She rolls her eyes and ignores them. "We're really sorry. Finn talked us into it." I would object but I can't. I did talk them into it.

"Yeah whatever. If you'll excuse me, I have to go to the lost and found to find something _dry_ to wear for the rest of the day." As she walks passed us she shoves each of our shoulders with hers.

**Modern Day-New York**

Annie laughs and her long chocolate brown hair falls in front of her shoulders perfectly. Our hands are intertwined as we walk home from the pier. She leans her head on my shoulder and gives my arm a kiss and I lean down to kiss her forehead.

Annie and I began dating in 9th grade. I confessed my love for her and proved it the night I stayed home from the pep rally when she was sick and I watched The Notebook with her. We have been on and off in our relationship since then. A lot. We've broken up a bunch of times since but somehow we always find our way back to each other. "Can you believe six years ago we couldn't stand each other?" Annie asks with a smile. Her white teeth show in the dark night like stars.

"Well _you _couldn't stand _me. _Cause' I was a little shit who wouldn't stop bothering you." I remind her. She nods her head and chuckles.

She smiles and I take both her hands and walk backwards to face her. Her smile starts to fade to a frown and lets go of one of my hands to walk the way we were before. "I don't want summer to end." Annie says. Tomorrow we will start our senior year, which frankly scares the shit out of me.

"I know, neither do I. But all good things must come to an end I guess."

"Not us though." She says looking down at her feet. "We won't ever end."

* * *

"We won't ever end," she said. "We'll be together forever." she said. I believed Annie every time she spoke these words. It was until the day I took my jealousy too far.

We are two weeks into senior year. Football tryouts were a lot worse then last year. There were twice as many bear crawls, triple the amount of sit ups, and the sun decided to beat down ten times as hard. We all walk over to the bleachers and take huge gulps of grape Gatorade. "Yo, Finnick." My teammate, Cato, walks over to me.

"What?" I say breathlessly. I take off my helmet revealing a gross amount of sweat.

"I heard your girl is hooking up with a sophomore." He says with a smirk. I stop drinking and look up at him.

"Okay and when exactly do you assume this happened?" I ask sarcastically.

"Right now. Bunch of guys saw them hooking up in the library. Smart girl. No one goes in there after school ends." Cato tells me. "Ask anyone." I walk over to Gale who somehow still has enough energy to stand.

"Have you heard anything about Annie with a sophomore?" I ask expecting a 'no'. Gales scratches his head and doesn't respond right away. "Did you see anything?"

"Look Finn-" Before he could even finish his sentence I sprint towards the school.

"Ah, shit- Finnick!" Gale calls after me. I ignore him and keep going.

I also ignore the janitors who yell at me for wearing my cleats in the school. I run down hallways and start to feel adrenaline kick in. The library comes into site and I actually see Annie and some sophomore coming out of a dark library.

"Annie!" I shout with anger. She looks up with a worried look.

"Hey, Finn. Why do you look so-"

"Were you hooking up with this guy?" I ask bringing my run down the hall to a slow walk.

"What the- what the hell are you talking about?" She asks. "I was just helping him with algebra!"

"A bunch of guys on the football team said they saw you guys making out in the library!" I snap back. She rolls her eyes.

"Oh come on, Finnick. You said it yourself- the guys on your team are assholes!" She shouts. "And how would you explain the Algebra textbooks?"

"One of the guys included Gale!" I yell. She rolls her eyes. "And you hate Algebra!" I point out.

"Well if you even bothered to notice, you would've known that I've gotten good at it!" She let's out a breath of frustration and turns to the sophomore. "Sorry, Ryan. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He nods and walks away giving me an unfriendly glare.

"Hah. No you won't. Because I forbid you to ever talk to that kid again." I demand. She sarcastically laughs.

"You forbid me? You can't forbid me from anything! Finnick, I'm not your daughter!" She shouts louder.

"No, you're not, you're my girlfriend! Which is why you don't belong in dark libraries at six o' clock at night with another guy!" I yell back. She looks at me with tears in her eyes.

"You seriously don't believe me? Finn, you know me. That's not me." She says in a softer tone. "I don't know what the hell Gale thinks he saw."

"Gale would never tell me something like that and not mean it." I tell her. She closes her eyes and shakes her head. Two tears roll down her cheek. Crap, one thing I can't handle is when I make her cry.

"So you believe him over me?" I don't respond.

"Finnick," she begins. "Maybe we need to just end this. This…this thing- this torturous soul-sucking thing we call love. It's not fair to either of us if all we do is fight, break-up, make-up and repeat. If this is us now, imagine how much we would fight when we're married. We love each other and we both know it…but maybe loving each other as friends would just be easier. I mean I know relationships have up and downs but this is like a fricken roller coaster that never ends. I feel like we've spent more time broken up or fighting then actually being together. When was the last time we've gone on a date? Not hanging out at your house on a school night until 10:30, but an actual date."

I don't respond because I don't even know what to begin to say. "That's what I thought. Just please promise me one thing." I nod slightly. "Promise we will stay friends. I love you, Finn, I do. But we just went way past complicated." I hesitate to respond but then nod again.

"I promise." I tell her. _Fight for her_, I tell myself. _Just start apologizing and beg for another chance_. But I've already had like a hundred chances to get it right. She deserves better then me and we both know it. She gives me a small kiss on the cheek then walks down the hallway. I hear the steps of her boots getting further away. I want to chase after her but I can't. It's like my feet are glued to the ground.

"Finnick!" I hear Gale's voice echo down hallways. I slide down the wall of the hallway in disbelief. Annie and I are actually over. For good. Our other break-ups were just stupid and lasted for like one week and we both knew we'd get back together so it wasn't that depressing. But that. She's never said anything like that to me before. "Finnick!" he calls again. I see him coming down the hall and walking more towards me. "Hey." Gale says sorrowfully. I don't respond and just lean my head against the wall.

"We're over. We're actually done. And she wasn't effing around this time. You should've seen her expression, and the words that she said." I tell him. He sits down next to me with his back against the wall.

"Was she actually doing something with that sophomore?" He asks. I look at him with a confused look.

"Well…didn't you see her? You said you saw them together." I say. He shakes his head.

"I didn't see them actually hooking up but they were like laughing and shit. The kid was obviously hitting on her." He tells me.

"You told me they were actually doing something!" I yell standing up.

"I didn't say anything- you sprinted inside! I would've came after you sooner but coach had me stay for a pep talk." I groan because I know he's right.

"I'm such an idiot." Gale pats me on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Finn. What can I do to make this easier on you?" I shrug.

"Nothing." I tell him.

Annie POV

I wipe away the tears that roll down my cheeks as I speed walk to my white Volvo. I hear hoots and whistles from the football players as they pass me on their way to the locker rooms. "Annie, what happened?" Peeta asks stopping me.

"I have no idea. Ask Finnick." I tell him. I make it to the parking lot and unlock my car. I sit in the drivers' seat and lean my head on the wheel. I miss him already. No, I think to myself. He doesn't deserve you. How dare he think you cheated on him! Part of me wants to go back in there and just hug him. And the other part of me wants to go back in there and slap him in the face. Jealousy has always been Finnick's weakness. At times I thought it was cute and hot…but then at other times I thought he was being ridiculous and idiotic. Like today. But to think I cheated on him…that's crossing the line.

I jam the key into the car and start the engine. I look at Finnick's old pickup truck beside my little car. We're two completely different people. Maybe that's why we fight so much. Or maybe we just aren't meant for each other. I call Katniss before I start driving.

"Annie, what's up?" She asks. Another tear escapes my eye.

"Finnick and I um…we broke up. For good, this time." I tell her. There's silence on the other end.

"Are you sure forever? Maybe it's just like-"

"No, it's not like the other times, Katniss. We decided it's just easier to stay friends. He thought I cheated on him with a sophomore." I tell her. "And apparently Gale told him I was. That's the only reason he wouldn't believe me."

"What? Tell Gale to get his ass over to my house!" She tells me. I slightly smile.

"No, it's all right. Gale's a good guy he probably didn't mean too. Maybe we needed this. I think it was time to say goodbye." I tell her. "He promised we'd stay friends."

"You should stop by my house. We can go out somewhere it's a Friday night. Or do you not wanna talk about it just yet?" She asks.

"I just wanna be alone right now, thanks though." I say holding back a sob.

"It'll be all right, Annie."

"I hope it will. Thanks, Katniss for always being there for me when we broke up." I tell her.

"I guess after a hundred times of doing it, I got sort of good." She jokes. I laugh slightly and say goodbye before hanging up.

I better get out of here before Finnick comes out. The sun is close to setting so I turn my head lights on. My eyes seem to have an endless supply of tears the whole ride home. If I got a dime for every tear, I'd be rich. I wonder if he's hurting this bad. Is it normal for break-ups to hurt this badly? When we split the other times, it was more anger then sadness. I check my phone to see if there's any messages from Finn. Nothing. It's not that I want him to call…just checking.

I pull into my drive way only to find that my Dad is still at work but my mom is still home. My house is pretty big but has the catch that my Dad is never home. I walk up to our big porch and slowly walk in hoping my mom won't notice.

"Where have you been?" My mom asks popping out of nowhere making me jump. "Have you been crying?"

"No, I'm fine." I say dropping my purse on the floor and wipe my eyes for the last time. From now on, I will act like nothing happened and make him think I'm happy. I'm going to laugh so he won't see me cry. And even if it kills me- I am going to smile.

* * *

**So I kind of used a very alike chapter from my other non-completed story, but it will be original from now on! Please review! I'll update ASAP.**


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